Hello, My Name is Wednesday 13
F
or Wednesday 13 [ Joseph Michael Poole ], horror and spooky things aren’ t just a hobby. It’ s his full-time job. There’ s a reason he’ s known as The Duke of Spook. For the past three decades, he’ s been making music about hideous creatures, evil monsters, and all things
6 illinoisentertainer. com february 2026 horror. He’ s a modern-day Alice Cooper. He lives and breathes horror. If he’ s not singing about it, he’ s watching it, collecting memorabilia, and is involved in the horror scene. And that’ s how he likes it. 30 years into his career, he’ s not looking to reinvent himself, trend chase, or shift gears. Rather, he’ s happy to stick to what he knows best: singing songs about zombies, vampires, and other things that bump in the night.
With his tenth album, Mid Death Crisis, Wednesday 13 remains the master of the macabre. Songs about graveyards, dead girls, and the devil aren’ t new territory, but it’ s what he knows, loves, and excels at. It’ s also what his legions of fans want to hear. And for Wednesday, 13, that’ s reason enough to keep going.
Before heading out on tour with The Birthday Massacre and Lord of the Lost in support of his latest album, Wednesday 13 chats with IE about his latest album, his upcoming big birthday celebration, and what keeps him going this far into his career.
Illinois Entertainer: You ' ve been making music about horror and all things macabre for 30 years now. And you clearly still love what you do. That came across loud and clear on Mid Death Crisis. You can hear how much fun you had recording it. That ' s part of why I enjoyed it so much. What motivates you to not only keep going after three decades, but to keep making new music as well? Wednesday 13: Thank you for what you said. Yeah, I love what I do. I never wanted to get a real job. So, my goal in life was to do something I loved. I wanted to be in a rock band and tour the world and play music and go to different places and have people know my music. Now, I ' m able to do that. I started professionally 25 years ago with Murderdolls. I ' ve been doing it before that, obviously, I started when I was 15. But Murderdolls kicked in when I was about 25 years old. What ' s keeping me going is that I still love what I do. I achieved my dream. I have fans all over the world who can ' t wait for my concerts or can ' t wait to hear new music. They inspire me. And with social media, fans can message you every day. That’ s like writing a fan letter, like what I used to do back in the day, but you ' ve got a better chance of someone reading it now. So, I get to hear what people think about the music. People will write to me every week and tell me how my music saved their life or got them through a difficult time or just thank me for doing what I do. That ' s what keeps me going.
IE: You highlighted something positive about social media, which we often forget because we tend to focus on how toxic it is. W13: Yeah, I mean, you ' ve got to take the good with the bad. It ' s the internet now. Anyone can
Continued on page 8